NEW DELHI: India’s aviation ministry on Friday rolled back a new policy of weekly rest for pilots after chaos caused by hundreds of flight cancellations by the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo.

Airports across India have been in disarray since Monday, with the private carrier blaming the disruption on “unforeseen operational challenges”.

On Thursday, IndiGo admitted to aviation regulators that “misjudgement and planning gaps” in adapting to new rules led to the operational meltdown, even though it had two years to prepare for the switch.

The new rules came into effect last month, intending to give pilots more rest periods to enhance passenger safety.

India’s civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the “Flight Duty Time Limitations” rules have been placed in abeyance with immediate effect.

“Without compromising on air safety, this decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients, and others who rely on timely air travel for essential needs,” Naidu said in a statement.

Naidu said his ministry expected that “flight schedules will begin to stabilise and return to normal by tomorrow”.

IndiGo, which cancelled all domestic flights on Friday from New Delhi and Chennai, apologised for “the immense inconvenience and distress” caused to travellers.

In a video statement, the company’s CEO Pieter Elbers said late Friday the relaxation of the rules was “of great help,” but there was “still lots of work in progress”.

Friday was the “most severely impacted day” with “well over a thousand” cancellations, Elbers said.

He added that the company expected cancellations to fall below 1,000 on Saturday, ahead of a return to normal between December 10 and 15.

IndiGo, which commands 60 percent of India’s domestic market, operates over 2,000 flights a day.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025